Kansas City Chiefs: Getting the No. 1 seed could prove difficult
If the season ended today, the Kansas City Chiefs would be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
In years past, there have been two bye weeks in the first round of the playoffs for the top two teams in the AFC. This year, with the expanded playoffs, that is no more, as now only one team gets a first round bye, which makes that No. 1 seed even more important for the Kansas City Chiefs.
As of now, the Kansas City Chiefs would be the two seed in the postseason and they’d host the Cleveland Browns over Wild Card weekend. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers would get the week off and prepare to host the lowest remaining seed after that weekend’s slate of games were over.
While there’s still half a season to be played and anything can happen, it really does feel like the Chiefs’ margin for error is minimal if they want that No. 1 seed, which of course they do. The Steelers have yet to lose a game and while going 16-0 is unlikely, Pittsburgh has a few tough games remaining on their schedule, such as their rematch against Baltimore and games against the Bills, Browns, and Colts.
Kansas City Chiefs fans will be watching the Steelers like a hawk down the stretch.
The NFL playoffs were fine the way they were, but the expansion means two more teams get in and that of course means more money for the NFL. It’s unfortunate because this change hurts the Chiefs for sure. They’re a team that would most certainly be in the running for the one or two seed every year and now they can’t settle for the two seed.
The good news is that the Chiefs are going to make the playoffs again (barring something very unusual), but until the Steelers lose a game, the Chiefs have to keep within striking distance. They have a game against the Panthers this weekend and then a bye week in Week 10 while Pittsburgh will face the Cowboys and Bengals in those two weeks. A 9-0 record seems imminent for the Steelers.
The good news is that Pittsburgh does play in an incredibly tough division, so they’ll have to face the Browns and Ravens again before the end of the season. The Chiefs’ division is much easier and they have two of their final three AFC West match-ups at Arrowhead in the second half of the year.
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Winning out probably isn’t going to happen for Kansas City, as they still have the Buccaneers, Saints, and even feisty teams like the Dolphins remaining on the schedule. As crazy as it is, a 14-2 record might not be good enough to earn the No. 1 seed this year.